One Deep Breath
by RainingSunshineEverywhere
Summary: This was a request I promised to write for Qille. It's how Flint Lockwood is REALLY allergic to peanuts and the whole story changes from there. Enjoy!


Think about it. You have a secret you'd love to tell everyone, but you're scared. Maybe you're just waiting for the right time, but the time comes—at the most UNEXPECTED time. Seriously? How bad could it get? Well the same thing was unfortunately about to happen to none other than Flint Lockwood. The secret was that he was allergic to peanuts. Of course he couldn't see him telling the girl he liked that he was allergic to peanuts. That was Sam Sparks. She had recently arrived to Swallow Falls for a weather report. Of course the weather turned a little strange and she landed herself in the greatest weather phenomenon in history.

Just now she and her cameraman; Manny, stepped into Flint's lab and she was amazed by it all. Though she wondered how someone so brilliant so much time alone. It was interesting to her that a machine, so ordinary could rain any food. But she had to make sure. She had already asked Flint about a list of food and he would grin at her and roll his eyes as he said yes. But on she continued.

"Can you do a BLT?" she asked, thinking he would say no.

He nodded, "I'm pretty sure I said any kind of food."

"Baloney?" she waved her arms.

Except he was getting slightly annoyed, "Okay, just think about what you're saying and if it's a food, then yes."

"How about Jell-O?" she asked dreamily.

"Do you like Jell-O?" he stopped getting annoyed and edged.

"I love Jell-O!" she pressed her hand to her heart and grinned at him.

"I love Jell-O too! Oh, and peanut butter, right?" he asked. And wondered if she was allergic to peanuts too. If she was then maybe he could tell her. Unless she wasn't. But he thought about it. Telling the girl you actually liked, that you were allergic to peanuts? Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. He had to grab her attention and not make her run away calling him names. Well, actually that was what Brent did. Every day it was the same name-calling if they ever crossed paths. But who cared about Brent, when all he needed was Sam? _She seems nice enough._ He thought, _I don't think she'll call me names._

"Oh, no, no, no, I am severely allergic to peanuts." She finally cast her eyes down and Flint sighed with relief. But he still didn't want to tell her. She might the wrong reaction.

"Eh, not me." He lied and cast his eyes down. Hopefully his words didn't backfire in the future. What if she found out he lied to her. Surely lying was worse than peanut allergies. But Flint pricked up, when she asked what the machine was called. For now, he'd just forget about it and just try to impress her.

xxx

The dim light coming from the lit up marshmallow wasn't enough light. Maybe it was better than nothing, but a little more light would be better. The slimy walls of the Giant Meatball closed in as Sam and Flint raced away from death. They had almost been eaten by chickens and Brent was somewhere fighting them off. If they beat him, it would be the end. Flint wasn't ready to die yet. Nope. The world came first. Gritting his teeth, he thought about how it was his fault maybe earlier, but now he pointed a finger at the Mayor. Who in the right mind would order a Vegas Style all-you-eat Buffet? Well, he always thought the Mayor was insane in his mind. It was the fame he wanted. The fame, but the food too.

Shaking his head, Flint ran after Sam. Until she held her arms out to stop him. He braked just in time. In front of them was a deep hole. It seemed to be a tunnel. Flint listened closely. There were growls coming from deep down in the tunnel. The hole was also gleaming with colors. The FLDSMSFR was defiantly down there. Fear gripped him.

"If I go down there, I'll go into anaphylactic shock. You have to go down, Flint." Sam gulped and Flint peered over the edge, to see what she meant. It was peanut brittle sticking on the walls of the tunnel like knives. The ___FLDSMDFR did obviously not want anyone shutting it down. But he remembered he had lied to Sam, telling her he wasn't allergic. A voice in his mind was taunting him: __You should have said the truth! You knew it would come back and snap you in the future. YOU KNEW!____ Ignoring the voice, Flint raised his head and turned to Sam._

_"_I'm actually allergic to peanuts. I lied." Flint stammered and Sam looked at him. She glared at him as if he had swallowed poison.

"What do you mean you lied?" she demanded and planted her arms on her hips. A stern look flashed through her eyes. She actually looked ready to beat Flint up.

"I thought you wouldn't like me." He looked down to the floor and his face turned red with embarrassment. Now who was supposed to go down in the tunnel to turn the FLDSMDFR off? In his mind, Flint knew it was him. His dad had gone through all the trouble to send him the Kill Code. But Sam didn't say anything. She just pursed her lips and kept quiet. Both jumped when they heard Brent scream for them to hurry up.

"Listen, I'll just go down." Flint scratched the back of his head, when she didn't reply. Nodding slowly, they found some licorice with a great length and Flint tied one end around his waist and handed the rest of the rope to Sam.

"I'll tug on the licorice twice and you'll pull me back up, okay?" Flint replied and Sam began to lower him down. But all she did was nod. Flint gripped the licorice hard and kept his body close to it. If the peanut brittle touched him it was the end of him and well, the world. If he died, Sam would have to destroy the FLDSMDFR, which didn't sound ideal. Somewhere halfway into the tunnel, Flint saw one of the peanut brittle pieces right beside his face. Closing his eyes, he moved his face away. Was the brittle going to get bigger as he went lower?

Suddenly a roar came from below him and the whole meatball shook uncontrollably. A scream came from Sam and she let go of the rope for a few seconds. Flint screamed as he plunged down. The brittle was getting bigger. One piece stuck right to his lab coat sleeve. Deciding it would be best not to touch it, he blew it off. His rope tightened and Sam had grabbed it again. He looked up at her and saw that her arm began to swell.

"You got cut didn't you?" Flint gasped. Everyone's allergy reactions were different. Sam's seemed to be the swelling. Later she would faint. Horror spread through Flint.

"It's just a scratch." She replied in a thick voice. Her face had swelled too.

"Brent!" Flint suddenly called for Brent. He had to take Sam back to the flying car to take her medicine. But there was no reply from Brent. Except a muffled groan. Sam and Flint had spent too much time arguing on how Flint lied. The world was to be destroyed in 20 minutes, probably 10 by now, and they were in deep trouble. Flint had to think fast.

"Sam! Let go!" Flint shouted over another roar coming from the FLDSMDFR.

"I'm not going to let you go! Look, I'll like you whether you have allergies or not. And I mean like like you." She turned red and Flint couldn't tell whether it was her allergies or she was blushing. A thought zipped through his mind and he let her words sit in her mind. A tear slid down his cheek and he knew what was for the better.

"Me too," Flint looked up at her, with teary eyes, "But I must do this. Goodbye, Sam."

That's when he leaned in and bit the licorice rope. A scream came from Sam as she watched Flint fall. The rope dangled from her hand and she gripped it. Below, Flint was falling, but knocking into the walls as he fell. The peanut brittle was sticking to his lab coat and now dug in through his lab coat. Biting back the pain, Flint felt stiff in his body. A stiffness that tore through his body like razors. A hammer was hammering on the inside of him. It was horrible as the pain spread through his body as he fell. His throat was feeling much stiffer than the rest of his body.

By the time he fell, the pain eased away a bit. Now it was time to get to the FLDSMDFR and get out of here. If he could even move, that is…

Many minutes later he hung from the FLDSMDFR with his sweaty hands slipping off the FLDSMDFR's legs. But he held on tight. He couldn't even believe that he managed to get this far! The pain was a tiger ripping apart his lungs and yet he managed to grab a hold the FLDSMDFR. The kill code his dad had sent him wasn't it and his cellphone had ended up smashed. Now he was slipping from his own invention. Slowly, he looked down and saw his shoes. A weak grin spread on his face and he pulled out his spray-on shoes can out of his lab coat.

"When it rains, you put on a coat!" he rasped and felt his lungs tighten even more. Maybe he should let go. This was too much. His eyes drooped and he stopped shaking the can. His throat was closing in too. But with the last possible breath he had left, he breathed in and then raised his can and sprayed with all his strength at the FLDSMDFR. A low rumble came from the FLDSMDFR and he then let go. His lungs closed in and his throat screamed in pain. It was a thousand gunshots all inside him. It was the shrieks of a dying person escaping him. He tumbled down, down, down.

The meatball was rumbling hard behind him. But he didn't seem to hear any of it. All was mute to his ears. He then felt a force push him and he thought in his closing mind that the meatball had exploded. He imagined Sam and fell faster as the air whooshed past him. He didn't even feel when something grabbed his scruff and the edges of his lab coat.

It was darkness and moving circles in his paralyzed mind. It was nothing but black and dark colors. Maybe it was okay to die. Maybe the world would be fine without him. Maybe…

Sam stood there with her hand resting on Tim Lockwood's shoulder. Tim was close to tears. But Sam tried to hold them back for a while. She couldn't cry yet. If the meatball really exploded, then Flint's body would fall. Dead or not, she wanted to see Flint. Brent stood behind her and hung his head. On the ground next to Brent, sat a very sad Steve.

A flutter of sudden wings came from above, and everyone looked up at the sky. Sam squinted her eyes and saw that it was a cluster of Flint's ratbirds. They landed nearby and separated to reveal a limp body. Gasping, Sam was first to run up to the body and realized it was Flint. More gasps came from Brent, Tim and even Manny; who stood not far off. All approached the body too. Gently kneeling down, Sam stroked Flint's hair. He looked dead. The peanut brittle had attacked him.

"Manny we need more medicine for nut allergies." Sam turned to Manny. Deep down, she knew that Flint wasn't full-way dead. Part of him had to still be alive. The medicine would most likely wake him.

"No more, Sam. You drank the last dose." Manny whispered. Her eyes closed, when she thought harder. Was there a way she could get the medicine from her to Flint? She thought hard. Then she licked her lips and bitter tang entered her mouth and prickled her taste buds. That's it! She had to transfer the medicine from her lips to Flint. Unless she kissed him. Poor Flint, each time he tried to kiss her they were interrupted or she backed him down.

Slowly she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. Then she sat back and watched. It was a movement of the left eye. Then his mouth twitched. Finally, his eyes fluttered opened. He licked his lips and looked up at Sam.

"Am I dead?" he asked quietly.

"No, Flint." Sam smiled at him. He lay there, until he realized many people were watching him. Then he sat up.

"You…?" he asked and touched his lips lightly with his fingers.

"Yes." She smiled and took his hand.

"Promise you'll never lie to me again?" she then asked softly.

"I promise." He smiled back and squeezed her hand.


End file.
